Flying saucer toy

ABSTRACT

A FLYING TOY RESEMBLING A FLYING SAUCER INCLUDING AN ANNULAR SHAPED BODY HAVING A CENTRAL DUCT EXTENDING THROUGH THE BODY PORTION WHEREIN THE DUCT IS OF GENERALLY CONCIAL SHAPE PROVIDING A CONICAL CUSHION OF AIR BENEATH THE TOY IN FLIGHT TO INCREASE ITS STABILITY. THERE IS ALSO DISCLOSED MEANS FOR PROVIDING A TORQUE IN OPPOSITION TO THE TORQUE PRODUCED BY THE PROPELLER INCLUDING AIRFOIL MEANS POSITIONED WITHIN THE DUCT.

March 9, 1971 J. 1'. BRUCE 3,568,358

' FLYING- SAUCER TOY Filed Oct. 4, 1968 v r 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG- 2INYVENTOR; JOEL- T. BRUCE ATTORNEY v March 9, 1971 J. T. BRUCE FLYINGSAUCER TOY 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed 001;. 4, 1968 FIG. 5

INVENTOR JOEL T BRUCE FIG. 4

ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,568,358 FLYING SAUCER TOY Joel T. Bruce,4401 Caruth, Dallas, Tex.

Filed Oct. 4, 1968, Ser. No. 765,240 Int. Cl. A63h 27/00 US. Cl. 46-75 9Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The invention relates generally to toyaircraft and, more particularly, to a toy flying saucer.

Much interest has been generated in recent years in unidentified flyingobjects. The subject has been investigated by various governmentagencies'and many books have been written on the subject. Each year manyunidentified flying objects are reported in the news media andotherwise, maintaining a high rate of interest in such objects and asubstantial amount of speculation as to their form and origin. Theunidentified flying objects are usually alleged to have a disc or saucershape and exhibit excellent maneuverability and accelerationcharacteristics. As a result of the great interest aroused by theperformance and unique shape of the flying saucers, several childrenstoys have been developed which are made to resemble their reportedshape. Although several such toys are capable of flight, in general,their flight is characterized by relatively high degree of instability.

The present invention provides a flying saucer toy powered by modelairplane engine and propeller which is characterized by a greaterstability than existing flying saucers. It has been found that theshape'of the column of air flowing from the flying saucer is determinedto a substantial extent by the shape of the duct passing through thebody of the toy. Thus, it has been found that if the duct is ofgenerally cylindrical shape, the column of air will also be ofcylindrical shape. By making the duct to be of a generally conicalshape, a conical shaped cushion of air will be provided resulting ingreater stability of the toy.

Still another difliculty with prior art in flying saucer toys is thetendency for the toy to rotate at excessive speeds as a result of torquegenerated by rotation of the propeller. In general, it has beenattempted to reduce ro-- tation of the toy flying saucers by providingpods or vanes on the exterior surfaces of the toy. In accordance withthe present invention, it has been found that the rotation of the toycan be corrected to a greater extent by providing fins which function asairfoils within the duct where the velocity of the air blowing over thefins or airfoils is greatest. Thus, in accordance with one specificembodiment of the invention generally vertically disposed fins areprovided which react with the flow of air to provide a torque inopposition to the torque created by the movement of the propeller. Inaccordance with the second embodiment of the invention, the motorsupports are positioned at the lowermost portion of the duct for thepurpose of lowering the center of gravity of the toy to increase itsstability. The supports are also preferably canted to provide an airfoilwhich reacts with the air flowing through the duct to provide a torquein opposition to the torque created by the rotation of the propeller andagainst which the flow of Patented Mar. 9, 1971 p we air reacts to lowerthe apparent center of gravity of the toy substantially increasing thestability of the toy.

Many objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent tothose skilled in the art as detailed description of the preferredembodiment unfolds when taken in conjunction with the appended drawingswherein like reference numerals denote like parts and in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a flying saucer toy in accordance withthe present invention;

FIG. 2 is a side elevation view, partially in cross-section, of the toyof FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a bottom plan view of the toy shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a side elevation view showing schematically the cushion of airprovided by the toy of the present invention; and

FIG. 5 is a view in cross-section of a motor support arm in accordancewith one embodiment of the invention.

Referring now to the drawings, a flying saucer in accordance with thepresent invention is designated generally by the reference character 10.It includes an annular shaped body 12 having outer surfaces 14 and 16.The sur faces 14 and 116 are oppositely inclined and terminate at arelatively thick outer edge 18. It has been found preferable that theouter edge 18 be relatively thick rather than relatively sharp for beststability. It has also been found desirable that the lower surface 16 beinclined to a lesser extent than the upper surface 14. The inner surface20 is generally cylindrical providing a central duct 22 which extendsthrough the body 12. The body 12 is preferably formed of a lightmaterial, such as plastic, to define a hollow center 24. Landing skids25 which depend downwardly from the body and which are inclined in thedirection the body normally rotates are desirable for minimizing damageto the toy when landing.

A supporting frame 26 is attached to the body 12, preferably at thelower edge 28 thereof. As best shown in FIG. 1 of the drawings, thesupporting frame 26 includes a support ring 30 and four concentricallyarranged legs 32 which extend radially from the support ring. Thesupport frame 26 provides a mounting for a power source 54, such as amodel airplane engine. The engine is mounted so that its propellerrotates in a plane generally perpendicular to the axis of the body 12.It will be noted that the propeller is positioned within the duct 22 ata point at which the diameter of the duct is of reduced cross-sectionalarea and a relatively small amount of space is provided between theinner surface 20 and the tip of the propeller. A snap fastener andswivel 72 for connecting a tether line are attached to the support framein a conventional manner.

The upper portion of duct 22 is flared outwardly to provide a smoothpath of flow of air into the throat of the duct. Below the throat of theduct, the walls are generally of a truncated conical shape to provide anoutlet of greater area than the throat. It has been observed that as aresult of the conical shape of the duct, the cushion of air createdbelow the flying saucer as a result of operation of the propeller willalso be of conical shape as shown in FIG. 4, and flight of the aircraftwill be characterized by a much greater degree of stability than is trueof similar type flying saucers in which the duct is shaped to define aright cylinder. Thus, it has been found possible to greatly increase thestability of the flying saucer by tapering the inlet to the duct tominimize turbulence in the flow of air into the propeller, and byshaping the duct in the form of a truncated cone in order to provide aconical cushion of air beneath the saucer.

Torque exerted by the engine as it drives the propeller causes the bodyto rotate at high speeds and at a direction counter to the rotation ofthe propeller. This spinning has a gyroscopic efl'ect which tends tostabilize the toy against horizontal forces. However, rotation of thebody counter to the rotation of the propeller decreases the effectivepropeller speed and thereby decreases the effective efficiency of thepropeller. If the torque created by the engine is not counteracted, thebody will rotate and at such excessive speed that flight will either beimpossible or unstable.

In accordance with the principals of the present inventions, fins 36 areprovided on the inner wall 20 of the body 12. The fins are canted inrespect to the direction of flow of air through the duct such that airstriking the fins will produce a torque in opposition to the torquecreated by the engine as it drives the propeller. It has been found thatsuch fins are much more effective in producing the desired counteractingtorque than are externally positioned fins.

The legs 32 are preferably canted with respect to the plane of the body12, such that air flowing downward through the duct 22 will strike thelegs 32 and produce a torque in opposition to a torque used for rotationof the propeller and a downward thrust which lowers the appearance andair gravity of the flying saucer. The legs 32 are preferably shaped asshown in FIG. of the drawings to provide a more eflicient airfoilwherein the distance between the leading edge 38 and the trailing edge40 of each of the legs 32 is greater along the bottom surface 42 thanacross the top surface I 44. Accordingly, wind blowing in the directionof arrow 46 will strike the leg 32 tending to produce a torque in thedirection of arrow 48 and a downward thrust in the direction of arrow50. It will be noted that the forces indicated by arrows 48 and 50 wouldbe present if the airfoil leg 42 was of uniform cross-section as theresult of the air moving in the direction of arrow 46 striking the leg.However, these forces can be increased by shaping the leg 32 as showninFIG. 5, such that an area of reduced pressure is produced along thebottom surface 42.

It has also been found advantageous to provide a dome 60 as shown in thedrawings. The dome '60 is suitably made of perforated grill constructionwith open segments separated by meshes. The dome 60 serves as a guard toprevent a person inadvertently placing his hand into the propeller andalso contributes to the stability of the flying saucer. It will be notedthat provision of the dome moves the geometric center of the flyingsaucer upward. However, since the dome is formed of such light materialand is such a small mass, it does not substantially move the center ofgravity. Stability of the device is, therefore, improved since thecenter of gravity relative to the geometric center is lower. It will beappreciated that for the device to be stable, its center of gravity mustbe positioned below the geometric center. Also, it will be appreciatedin this connection that the downward force exerted on the supportingarms32 essentially contributes to lowering of the appearance of gravity.

An additional function provided by the dome is to provide a parachuteeffect when the engine runs out of fuel and the saucer starts to fall.It is, of course, desirable that the saucer fall in an upward positionso as to prevent damage. Since the top grill of the dome extendslaterally downwardly from the outer circumference, resistance of flow ofair through the duct is provided, tending to maintain the saucer in asubstantially vertical attitude when the saucer is falling downwardly.

Although the invention has been described with reference to a particularpreferred embodiment thereof, many changes and modifications will becomeapparent to those skilled in the art in view of the foregoingdescription which is intended to be illustrative and not limiting oftheinvention defined in the appended claims,

What I claim is:

1. A toy aircraft comprising an annular shaped body including oppositelyinclined upper and lower full circular frusto-conical surfaces whichterminate at an outer circular rim before the surfaces intersect, acentral full circular duct having an inlet and an outlet extendingcoaxially through said body, said duct including a throat portion ofreduced diameter positioned closer to the inlet than the outlet with thewall of the duct above the throat portion being curved upwardly andoutwardly to provide a smooth transition between the upper surface andsaid duct to promote a smooth flow of air across the upper surface andinto the duct, the wall of said duct below said throat portion beingfrusto-conicallyshaped and of much greater height than the portion ofthe wall of the duct above the throat position, supporting frame meansdisposed in said central duct and attached to said body below the throatof said duct, propeller means and power means carried by said supportmeans for driving said propeller means and supporting said propellermeans for rotation about the 'axis of the body in a plane adjacent thethroat portion of said duct, the height of the throat portion being lessthan the height of the wall of the duct below said throat portion.

2. A toy aircraft as defined in claim 1 further including fin meanspositioned in said duct below the throat portion whereby air flowingthrough said duct and across said fin means responsive to said propellermeans being driven produces a torque in opposition to a torque producedas said propeller means is driven.

3. A toy aircraft as defined in claim 2 wheerin said fin means extendlongitudinally along the wall of said duct.

4. A toy aircraft as defined in claim -1 wherein said supporting framemeans comprises a plurality of airfoil members positioned in said ductwhereby the air flowing through said duct and across said airfoilmembers produces a torque in opposition to the torque produced by theleading trailing edges is greater across the bottom surface than acrossthe top surface. p

6. A toy aircraft as defined in claim 1 further including means forreducing the rotational speed of said body.

7. A toy aircraft as defined in claim 1 further including dome grillmeans attached to said body and partially covering said inlet. 1

8. A toy aircraft as defined in claim 1 further including landing skidsdepending downwardly from said body and inclined in the direction ofrotation of said body.

9. A toy aircraft as defined in claim 1 further including swivel meansfor connecting a tether line to said body.

References Cited STATES PATENTS UNITED 2,718,363 9/1955 Crabtree 244-l22,949,693 8/ 1960 McROSkey 46-75 3,128,062 4/1964 Brocard 244233,243,146 3/ 1966 Clover 24423 3,394,906 7/1968 Rogers 4675X RUSSELL R.KINSEY, Primary Examiner J. A. OLIFF, Assistant Examiner Us 01. X.R.24423

